“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.”
Mark Twain had a knack for overstatement, but you wonder if there was ever a golden age of the newspapers, and if so, what it looked like. In Scotland, it’s seldom looked like it has this week.
Some weeks ago, Graham Spiers, writing in The Herald, made reference to comments he claimed a Newco director made about the Billy Boys song. Spiers didn’t name the director, but questioned the club’s board’s willingness to tackle offensive behaviour.
The Billy Boys were a Glasgow razor gang from the 1920s and 30s, named after their leader, Billy Fullerton. Glasgow was one of the poorest cities in the industrial world, with high unemployment and mortality rates, squalid housing conditions and what we would now term disaffected young people who drifted into criminal gangs. The Billy Boys were known as a Protestant gang (there were similar Catholic gangs) and started going along to watch Rangers, and singing their signature tune, in the 20s.
So far, so anthropologic. The song, the gangs, the disaffected masses were a product of their time, but the song persisted through the decades, including the “up to our knees in Fenian blood” third line. It was the mood music to employment practices at Ibrox from the 20s until 1989.
Scotland has changed enormously since then. We are a genuinely plural society, not one scandalised by “mixed marriages”. The vast majority of people don’t care who or what you are, boundaries have been pushed back, there is a fairly level playing field, no matter your creed or colour. All of this change brought focus to the Billy Boys song, it’s not the mood music to modern Scotland, or to ANY Rangers fans I know.
I couldn’t care less about the song. For me, it is a millstone around the neck of Newco, as it was of Oldco. It drags them down to a place they can ill-afford to be. It offends (not alone in football), has a criminal legacy (not alone in football), but it’s unique quality is that third line. You can’t say that about any group of people anymore.
Spiers has put his neck on the block over sectarianism at Ibrox repeatedly over the years. He wrote about his recent experience at Ibrox, expressed an opinion, and submitted his copy.
The club complained. Football clubs complain lots about many things. There’s a set answer newspapers give to these complaints: “It was an opinion piece”. They never retract or apologise for “an opinion piece”.
I’m 100% certain The Herald’s first response to Newco was “it’s an opinion piece”. This would normally have been the end of it, but on Wednesday The Herald issued an apology.
Spiers then became a blogger to explain “My opinion – as expressed in my column – was based on a truthful account of my meeting with a Rangers director.”
Who you believe is irrelevant for this topic. The only relevance is that within a 24 hour period, The Herald and Evening Times group changed how they deal with criticisms of an opinion piece – and then used six degrees of separation to drag Celtic into a sectarian headline.
“Ex-Celtic player in dock for sectarianism”, screamed the Evening Times, using the Celtic badge into the bargain. A woman is on trial for allegedly making a sectarian comment on Facebook. She once played for Celtic under-19s, never the senior ladies team. She doesn’t play for Celtic Ladies under-19s (or any age group) anymore, and didn’t a year ago when she made this comment. She never held an employed position at the club.
An amateur, juvenile, registered with the club who are a member of the Women’s Association. Fill your boots, Evening Times. The apology will do them no favours with any constituency, it will cost them more readers in each than sticking to their guns would have. Reacting by grasping onto something so tenuous to drag Celtic into the murky waters was unconscionable.
They do not report in this manner elsewhere. Headlines for court appearances never lead with the person’s club memberships, “Prestwick Golf Club member in driving ban”? You’ll never read this.
One very good political journalist once told me “The football content pays my wages”. That being the case, The Herald’s already difficult job to survive has been enormously undermined. Spiers also explained “the pressure brought upon the newspaper became severe”. They can ill-afford to lose advertising revenue streams, or readers.
Napoleon once said, “‘Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets”. He’s been dead a long time, though. Newspapers can now make themselves impotent in an afternoon.
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Part of the definition of `moron` : a person having an intelligence quotient of between 50 and 70.
Surely that rules those two eejits out?
JJ
Surely a ‘superscoreboard’ of morons is the obvious one.
Sorry GFTB ,beat me to it while I was posting. Respect.
JJHS
Sorry, don’t have a scooby doo about that story, JJ.
Celtic have played Ross County 15 times scoring 31 goals with 9 wins. 4 draws. 2 defeats.
Oh Hampden in the rain….Celtic 4 and Ross County nain….
Not even time for a wee power nap. In the old BT Stand today with my precious big sister and her grandson, on his first visit to our National stadium.
Angela!
http://videocelts.com/2016/01/blogs/latest-news/angela-haggerty-goes-digital-on-her-newsquest-sacking-without-fear-or-favour
B.M.C.U.W.
glad to see you posting pal ,
remember wee have a
meeting in Glasgow March
H.H.
An audience of morons?
Glendaly
You should be worried if are thinking like me….fools seldom differ !
But as you typed SSB is the obvious option……
We all up for this today? We will need to be, some good players in the RC team( see what I did there). I look forward to seeing how young McShane plays for RC today, a cracking player who pays the game the right way, head up , always looking for a pass and always available. I am biased though, I know the lad and his family and had the pleasure of having the lad in my team for a couple of years.
Anyway , it’s all about us on here. I do not think we will gamble on Broonie, but if we are ahead with 20 minutes to go it would be good to give him a run. He will be needed at Pitoddrie on Wednesday as Brother McLean has already written his name in the book.
I hope we play well and earn a good victory with young McShane scoring a consolation screamer for RC.
Hail! Hail!
Beatbhoy
Me neither but the guy who told me, whilst accepting that it might be nonsense, was worried about the `information` with the Celtic game coming up. I rate Jonny Hayes very highly.
JJ
TOMMIE 20
As if I’d forget,mate. Looking forward to it.
And good to have you back on board.
A Confederacy of Dunces!
Good book in aw
Ernie
Ain’t that the truth
Jungle Jim Hot Smoked on 31st January 2016 12:37 pm
Just seen it mentioned on thier fans forum from early yesterday,
Their even :(((
tommie20 on 31st January 2016 12:52 pm
B.M.C.U.W.
glad to see you posting pal ,
remember wee have a
meeting in Glasgow March
H.H.
HAW ya Swindon charmer ye two timing me :))))))))))))))
A Celtic victory today will see us in the final for the 31st time in the 70 years of the League Cup.
But Celtic expect a very tough match after being given a bye in last years semi-final.
Decided to walk to hampden today as parking and escaping afterwards is rubbish
4 miles each way is a wee work out on my road back to a healthier lifestyle .
Time to get the waterproof jaiket on and head out
Come on you bhoys in green
Leftclicktic
He’s a hing out …..goes out with anyone:-))
If the man in the middle today calls it properly, I see no problems at all.
BSR
:)))))))))))))))))))
till later all
my wee goal interest is Lustig at anytime in 90mins though nearly plumped for young Kieran T to continue living his dream
https://twitter.com/CelticQuote
Link
https://mobile.twitter.com/CelticQuote/status/693542088873504768/photo/1
leftclick
Brilliant
HH
….PFayr supports WeeOscar on 31st January 2016 1:14 pm
Thank you for making me LOL :))))))
Ajax just been mugged in injury time, great stuff. The ref ignores a blatant foul in the box,but the cross goes over and Roda equalise. GIRFUY.
Looking a wee bit brighter here now so fingers crossed for kick off time.
Weather forecast from Montfords is very dry and upstairs has two buses from Ulster and one from Prestonpans!
Who’s MIB today?
“Masonic of morons”
3-2 the tic
Efe anytime goal
Griff a double
The wee man will be miffed at not scoring last week, hope he takes it out on Ross County today
COYBIG :))
No offence meant to any Celtic supporter who happens to be in the Masons haha!!
Oh Hampden in the rain
Last year it was brother McLean….
;)
jJHS
Yes, he seems to have been playing well. They’d miss him.
Any team news lads
Craig Thomson, on anyone but Celtic duty today.
The man who tried his best to stop the treble last year in QF against DU.
Griffiths clean through on goal in first minute of replay, taken out by keeper, yellow card.
I remember Sportsound admit definite red but good for the game.
Boyata in for Simunovic. Brown makes the bench
STARTING XI: Gordon, Lustig, Ambrose, Boyata, Tierney, Bitton, Johansen, Mackay-Steven, McGregor, Armstrong, Griffiths